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Fugitives in Florida lead cops on canoe chase

Fugitives in Florida lead cops on canoe chase

Jessie Bryant, left, and Garrett Eure were arrested Monday after evading police for five hours while paddling down a Florida river in a canoe. (Madison County Sheriff's Office)

By STEPHANIE GRIMESREVIEWJOURNAL.COM

Two Florida men accused of armed robbery led police on a canoe chase Monday before being taken into custody when police caught up to them by using a motorboat.

Garrett Eure, 23, of Gainesville, Fla., was wanted for failure to appear on an escape charge from armed robbery, according to WCTV. Jessie Bryant, 23, of Fort Pierce, Fla., was wanted on charges of armed burglary and battery by strangulation.

Police said the two men were hiding at the home of Eure’s girlfriend, Cassandra Zabriskie, 21, when they found out authorities had discovered their location. So they grabbed two wooden paddles and took to a canoe with a cooler and a few backpacks.

The fugitives managed to evade police for five hours, traveling nine miles down the Withlacoochee River before being caught at a bridge by policemen in a motorboat, according to the Gainesville Sun.

Russell Williams, a freelance photographer who was present when the men were captured told the Sun “the nicer looking one, Bryant, told me, ‘I hope you got my good side.’”

The men were arrested and taken to the Madison County Jail. Zabriskie was arrested on charges of resisting without violence but was released on $540 bond.

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